As of 2026, there are a total of 21 Indian Institute of Management (IIM) colleges in India offering a total of approximately 6100-6500 seats altogether. If we talk about the average batch size, it comes to around 350 – 450. Candidates who are willing to start their MBA journey must be curious to know which IIMs to consider out of the lot. While a lot will depend on the individual factors of the candidate, the top IIMs in India preferred by MBA aspirants is the BLACKI group – IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore. Also, for those who are interested to know about the top 3 IIMs in India, it’s IIM ABC – IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta. The above is what the MBA world thinks when it comes to choosing the best. After a deep analysis, we bring forth to you the 5 top IIM colleges in India and other details like course fees, seats, placements, cutoff and many more.
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Here’s the top 5 IIMs in India that you must aim for in 2026 – IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Lucknow. Starting with IIM Ahmedabad, also famously referred to as IIMA.
Top IIMs In India – IIM Ahmedabad
IIM Ahmedabad became the first B-school to receive EQUIS accreditation (2008). It was re-accredited again in 2025 for another 5 years.
Rankings
First place with a score of 83.29 as per NIRF Ranking 2025 (Management Category)
27th place at the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking (MBA- PGPX) 2026.
48th place in QS Masters in Management Rankings (MBA) 2026.
Batch Size and IIMA Courses Offered Through CAT
IIM Ahmedabad, one of the top IIM colleges in India, offers admission to the following courses through CAT – MBA (PGP – Post Graduate Programme in Management) and MBA (PGP-FABM – Food & Agribusiness Management). The total batch size is around 460.
Course
Batch Size
MBA – PGP
~ 414
MBA PGP-FABM
~ 46
IIM Ahmedabad Course Fee
Course
Total Fees
Tuition Fees
MBA – PGP
Rs 27,50,000
Rs 20,01,000
MBA PGP-FABM
Rs 27,50,000
Rs 20,01,000
IIM Ahmedabad Cutoff 2025
Category
Sectional Cutoff
Overall Cutoff
General
85
95
EWS
85
95
NC OBC
80
90
SC
75
85
ST
65
75
IIM Ahmedabad Placement 2025
Particulars
Placement Package
IIMA Highest Salary Package
Rs 1.10 Crore Per Annum
IIMA Average Salary Package
Rs 35.50 LPA
IIMA Median Salary Package
Rs 29.50 LPA
IIM Ahmedabad Scholarship Offered
Need-Based Financial Assistance
Peri Viswanath Scholarship
Shri G.C. Mittal Entrepreneurship Aid
Aditya Birla Scholarship
OP Jindal Engineering & Management Scholarship
Top IIMs In India- IIM Bangalore
IIM Bangalore or IIMB is accredited with EQUIS and has become one of the two B-schools in India to be placed in the top 30 ladder at QS World University Rankings (Business & Management Studies 2026).
Rankings
Second place with a score of 81.56 as per NIRF Ranking 2025 (Management Category)
34th globally and 3rd in India at the Financial Times (FT) MBA Rankings 2026 (EPGP).
29th place globally and 2nd in India in QS World University Rankings (Business & Management Studies 2026).
Batch Size and IIMB Courses Offered Through CAT
IIM Bangalore offers admission to the following courses based on CAT scores MBA (PGP – Post Graduate Programme in Management) and MBA (PGP-BA – Business Analytics). The total batch size is around 622.
Course
Batch Size
MBA – PGP
~ 544
MBA PGP-BA
78
IIM Bangalore Course Fee
Course
Total Fees
MBA – PGP
Rs 26,00,000
MBA PGP-BA
Rs 26,00,000
IIM Bangalore Cutoff 2025Â
Category
VARC
DILR and QA (Each Section)
General
80
75
EWS
70
65
NC OBC
70
65
SC
65
60
ST
55
55
IIM Bangalore Placement 2025
Particulars
Placement Package
IIMB Highest Salary Package
~ Rs 80 LPA
IIMB Average Salary Package
Rs 34.88 LPA
IIMB Median Salary Package
Rs 32.61 LPA
IIM Bangalore Scholarship Offered
Need-Based Financial Aid
Citi Women’s Leader Award
Aditya Birla Scholarship
OP Jindal Scholarship
Societe Generale Global Solution Centre Scholarship
Top IIM Colleges in India – IIM Calcutta
IIM Calcutta, also referred to as IIMC is the first IIM of India. It is also the first IIM to have received triple accreditation in India – AACSB (USA), AMBA (UK), EQUIS (Europe).
Rankings
7th place with a score of 77.34 as per NIRF Ranking 2025 (Management Category)
4th place globally in QS Masters in Management (CEMS MIM) 2026.
Batch Size and IIMC Courses Offered Through CAT
IIM Calcutta offers admission to the following courses based on CAT scores MBA (PGP – Post Graduate Programme in Management) and the total batch size is around 450-460.
Course
Batch Size
MBA – PGP
~ 450 – 460
IIM Calcutta Course Fee
Course
Total Fees
MBA – PGP
~ Rs 31,00,000
IIM Calcutta Cutoff 2025
Category
VARC
DILR
QA
Overall Percentile
OPEN
≥80
≥80
≥75
≥85
EWS
≥70
≥65
≥65
≥75
NC-OBC
≥70
≥65
≥65
≥75
SC
≥65
≥60
≥60
≥70
ST
≥55
≥55
≥55
≥65
IIM Calcutta Placement 2025
Particulars
Placement Package
IIMC Highest Salary Package
Rs 1.45 Crore Per Annum
IIMC Average Salary Package
Rs 34.23 LPA
IIMC Median Salary Package
Rs 34 LPA
IIM Calcutta Scholarship Offered
B.P. Poddar Scholarship
T. Thomas Scholarship
Aditya Kashyap Scholarship
IIMC Need-Based Financial Assistance
OP Jindal Scholarship
Aditya Birla Scholarship
Top IIMs in India – IIM Kozhikode
IIM Kozhikode has a double crown when it comes to accreditation. It has AMBA accreditation since 2010, re-accredited in 2023 for 5 years along with EQUIS accreditation since 2021 and re-accredited in 2024 for 5 years. IIMK is also a member of AACSB since 2019.
Rankings
3rd place with a score of 79.85 as per NIRF Ranking 2025 (Management Category)
12th place in Asia in QS Masters in Management (PGP) Rankings 2026.
Batch Size and IIMK Courses Offered Through CAT
IIM Kozhikode offers admission to the following courses based on CAT scores: MBA (PGP – Post Graduate Programme in Management), MBA (PGP-Finance) and MBA (PGP-LSM – Liberal Studies & Management). The total batch size is around 584.
Course
Batch Size
MBA – PGP
483
MBA PGP-Finance
49
MBA PGP-LSM
52
IIM Kozhikode Course Fee
Course
Total Fees
Per Term Fees ( 6 Terms)
MBA – PGP
Rs 23,50,000
Rs 4, 75,000 + Rs 3,50,000
MBA PGP-Finance
Rs 23,50,000
Rs 4, 75,000 + Rs 3,50,000
MBA PGP-LSM
Rs 23,50,000
Rs 4, 75,000 + Rs 3,50,000
IIM Kozhikode Cutoff 2025
Category
Sectional Percentile
Overall Percentile
GEN
75
85
EWS
65
75
OBC-NCL
65
75
SC
55
65
ST
45
55
IIM Kozhikode Placement 2025
Particulars
Placement Package
IIMK Highest Salary Package
~ Rs 72.02 LPA
IIMK Average Salary Package
Rs 28.05 LPA
IIMK Median Salary Package
Rs 27 LPA
IIM Kozhikode Scholarship Offered
IIM Kozhikode Merit Scholarships
Need-Based Financial Assistance (NBFA)
OP Jindal Scholarship
Aditya Birla Scholarship
Top IIM Colleges in India – IIM Lucknow
IIM Lucknow has triple accreditation: EQUIS accreditation achieved in 2025, AACSB accreditation (re-accredited in 2025) and AMBA accreditation.
Rankings
5th place with a score of 77.97 as per NIRF Ranking 2025 (Management Category)
58th globally in Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2026 (IPMX) 2026.
Batch Size and IIM Lucknow Courses Offered Through CAT
IIM Lucknow offers admission to the following courses based on CAT scores: MBA (PGP – Post Graduate Programme in Management), MBA-ABM (Agribusiness Management) and MBA-SM (Sustainable Management). The total batch size is around 576.
Course
Batch Size
MBA – PGP
572
MBA ABM
MBA SM
46
IIM Lucknow Course Fee
Course
Total Fees
Tuition Fees
MBA – PGP
Rs 20,75,000
Rs 12,60,000
MBA ABM
Rs 20,75,000
Rs 12,60,000
MBA SM
Rs 20,75,000
Rs 12,60,000
IIM Lucknow Cutoff 2025
Category
Sectional Cutoff
Overall Percentile
General
85
90
EWS
77
82
NC-OBC
77
82
SC
55
65
ST
50
60
IIM Lucknow Placement 2025
Particulars
Placement Package
IIMK Highest Salary Package
Rs 75 LPA
IIMK Average Salary Package
Rs 32.3 LPA
IIMK Median Salary Package
Rs 31 LPA
IIM Lucknow Scholarship Offered
Need-Based Financial Assistance
Bharti Scholarship
Aditya Birla Scholarship
OP Jindal Scholarship
Top 10 IIM Colleges in India
Top 10 IIMs in India
Course Fee
IIM Ahmedabad
Rs 27,50,000
IIM Bangalore
Rs 26,00,000
IIM Calcutta
Rs 31,00,000
IIM Kozhikode
Rs 23,50,000
IIM Lucknow
Rs 20,75,000
IIM Mumbai
Rs 21,00,000
IIM Indore
Rs 21,00,000 – 25,00,000
IIM Raipur
Rs 18,00,000 – Rs 20,00,000
IIM Ranchi
Rs 17,00,000 – Rs 18,00,000
IIM Rohtak
~ Rs 17,90,000
Top IIMs in India – New IIMs/Baby IIMs
The new IIMs are also preferred by MBA aspirants for their diverse course structure. Admission in these IIMs are done through CAT like the older IIMs but admission in these IIMs are done through a Common Admission Process (WAP) unlike the individual admission process followed by the older IIMs.
Top Baby IIMs in India 2026
Baby IIMs
Course Fee
Seats
Highest Placement Package
IIM Sirmaur
Rs 10,34,000
170
Rs 64 LPA
IIM Amritsar
Rs 10,50,000
360
Rs 36.25 LPA
IIM Visakhapatnam
Rs 10,50,000
120
Rs 36.25 LPA
IIM Bodh Gaya
Rs 10,60,000
120
Rs 48.58 LPA
IIM Sambalpur
Rs 13,30,000
120
Rs 64.61 LPA
IIM Nagpur
Rs 13,75,000
240
Rs 64 LPA
IIM Jammu
Rs 13,80,000
120
Rs 64 LPA
Summing it up!
Now, we have highlighted the top IIM colleges in India 2026 – IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Lucknow. It’s time to kickstart your CAT preparation. If you are looking for personalized guidance, iQuanta’s CAT course has been curated perfectly to drive you through the right path. Testament to it is that a majority of 99+%ilers last year are from iQuanta itself.Â
The top IIM colleges in India 2026 are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Lucknow.
Which is the hardest IIM to get into?
Analysing the preferences of the MBA aspirants, IIM Ahmedabad is the hardest IIM to get into. But with iQuanta’s CAT course, many aspirants achieve the 99%+ percentile and secured their seat at IIM Ahmedabad.
What are the 21 IIMs?
As per 2026, here are the list of the 21 IIMs in India IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA), IIM Bangalore (IIMB), IIM Calcutta (IIMC), IIM Lucknow (IIML), IIM Kozhikode (IIMK), IIM Indore (IIMI), IIM Shillong, IIM Rohtak, IIM Ranchi, IIM Raipur, IIM Tiruchirappalli (IIM Trichy), IIM Kashipur, IIM Udaipur, IIM Nagpur, IIM Visakhapatnam (IIMV), IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Amritsar, IIM Sambalpur, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Jammu and IIM Mumbai.
Which is the easiest IIM to get into?
Baby IIMs are the easiest IIMs to get into. Here are the list of the top baby IIMs – IIM Sirmaur, IIM Amritsar, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Sambalpur, IIM Nagpur and IIM Jammu
Which IIM has the best placements?
IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, and IIM Calcutta are said to have the best placements. The highest packages are Rs 1.10 Crore Per Annum, Rs 80 LPA, and Rs 1.45 Crore Per Annum, respectively.
